Mats Sundin will sign with the Rangers

At least that’s what Bob McCown of The Fan 590 – Toronto’s Sports Radio – is reporting.  Here’s the direct quote from their Twitter:  “Bob McCown reports a source close to Mats Sundin says he will sign with the New York Rangers any day now.”

And Sam Weinman is reporting that the Rangers have offered Sundin a “framework” of what could be made available if Sundin selected the Rangers, which as far as I can tell means that the Rangers will be trying to move salaries and give him as much money as they possibly can.

I have a few thoughts on this:

1.  The Rangers will have a whole lot of centers and not a lot of wingers.

2.  If the Rangers move anyone, it will probably be one of their expensive Defensemen.  Rozsival is the most likely to be sent packing, although I suppose Redden is a possibility.  I’m not sure what the Rangers can expect in return for Rozy and his -13 plus/minus.

3.  This would mean Corey Potter will probably get called up to the big show on a permanent basis.  That’s good.  It also means that we would be stuck with Kalinin and his -16 for the rest of the season.  That’s bad.  I was hoping Potter would take Kalinin’s place.  It’s still a possibility that the Rangers could just waive Kalinin (and his $2.1 million contract).  Dear Glen Sather, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do this.  Regards, 5-hole blog.

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Is there a trade in the works for the Rangers?

Take a look at the Rangers projected roster for 2008-2009.  The top 3 lines and the defense are pretty much set, but there seem to be too many forwards.

Zherdev-Gomez-Naslund
Prucha-Drury-Dawes
Callahan-Dubinsky-Sjostrom
Voros-Fritsche/Rissmiller-[Anisimov?]
Hollweg/[Byers?]-Betts-Orr/[Moore?]

Redden-Staal
Rozsival-Girardi
Mara-Kalinin-[Sanguinetti?]

By my calculations the Rangers have an excess of 3 NHL forwards plus 3 more NHL-caliber forwards currently in Hartford.  Because of this, it might be a good idea to make a salary-clearing trade for draft picks.   It’s safe to say that the Rangers still have interest in signing a proven goal-scorer either during the off-season or before the trade deadline next year.  If the Rangers can add some cap space to the $3.3 million they currently have, they would be in the running to make a play for a top-quality winger.

 

Update: Forgot about Kalinin. Thanks to the commenter “Jagr”.

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Where do the Rangers stand?

Let’s go through a projection of how the Rangers roster might shape up:

Zherdev-Gomez-[Jagr or some UFA]
Dawes-Drury-Callahan
Sjostrom-Dubinsky-Prucha
Hollweg-Betts-Orr
Fritsche-Rissmiller-Voros
Shanahan?

Rozsival-Staal
Redden-Girardi
Pock?-Strudwick?-Sanguinetti?

The Rangers have $14.5 million in cap space but that number does not include Dawes, Sjostrom, Fritsche, Rissmiller, Voros, or Strudwick.

Assuming the Rangers will spend roughly $4 or $5 million between those players, they will have about $9 or $10 million to spend on Jagr, Shanahan, and any UFA’s the Rangers might desire.

That doesn’t leave much wiggle room.  Decision time for Slats.

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Rangers trade Tyutin and Backman to Columbus for Zherdev and Fritsche

The Rangers traded defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forwards Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche.

In addition to adding some size and depth up front, the move will clear up some cap space for the Rangers to potentially make some moves (i.e. re-sign Jagr, acquire either Naslund or Huselius).

In my opinion, moving Backman and his $3.4 million off the roster and off the salary cap is a great move, but the loss of Tyutin is significant.  Tyutin has been a solid defenseman for the Rangers.  However, the acquisition of Redden gave the Rangers 4 top-notch defenseman (Redden plus Staal, Rozsival, and Girardi).  Therefore, Tyutin became non-essential.  This trade is good news for Bobby Sanguinetti.

Zherdev is young and seems to have a knack for putting the puck in the net.  The 6’2″ right wing is just 23 years old and scored 26 goals to go along with 35 assists in 2007-2008.  He is set to make $3.25 million in 2008-09, with only $2.5 million charged against the cap.

Fritsche is a 6’1″ center who is also 23 years old.  He had 10 goals and 12 assists last season.

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What is it with Glen Sather and overpaid defensemen?

I spent a little more time on NHLnumbers.com (my new favorite website)… And you know what I realized? Glen Sather loves to overpay for defense.

Take a look at the Rangers defense from this past season (in reverse order of suckitude):

Michal Rozsival – $2.4 mil
Marc Staal – 850K
Dan Girardi – 550K
Fedor Tyutin – $1.025 mil
Jason Strudwick – 500K
Christian Backman – $2.2 mil
Paul Mara – $3 mil
Marek Malik – $2.5 mil
Darius Kasparaitis – $3.116 mil

How can you justify paying Backman, Mara, Malik, and Kasparaitis a combined $10.8 million? That’s inane/insane. And, in case you were wondering, Christian Backman is set to make $3.4 million next season! So, the Rangers traded a 4th round pick for a guy who A) might dress as the team’s 6th defenseman or more likely will spend the season riding the pine; and B) is going to make $3.4 million while doing that.

Good trade by Blues GM President John Davidson.

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Rangers’ Unrestricted Free Agents and some speculation

Here’s a list of the Rangers unrestricted free agents and what they made this year. (Thanks to NHLnumbers.com… if you click on this link, you will waste a hell of a lot of time. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

Avery, Sean – $1.9 mil
Jagr, Jaromir – $8.36 mil
Malik, Marek – $2.5 mil
Mara, Paul – $3 mil
Rozsival, Michal – $2.3 mil
Shanahan, Brendan – $2.5 mil
Straka, Martin – $3.3 mil
Strudwick, Jason – $0.5 mil
Valiquette, Stephen – $0.635 mil

Out of that list, I think we’re more than likely going to be saying goodbye to Malik, Mara, Rozsival, Shanahan, and Straka. I think the Rangers would like to keep Strudwick and Valiquette if they can keep them for about the same salary. That leaves the 2 big questions: Sean Avery and Jaromir Jagr.

I’ve already made my case for Avery. If you want the short story, I think the Rangers should re-sign him. If you want the long story, click that link.

As for Jagr, I am undecided. He has proven he can still take control of a game and put the puck in the net… in spurts. The question is whether he can still perform at a high level for an entire season. And is he worth the high price tag? Keep in mind, the Rangers only paid Jagr $4.94 mil out of their own pockets. The rest was courtesy of the Washington Capitals. The reason I think the Rangers are not going to re-sign Jagr is that it seems like Jagr and the team are going in 2 different directions. Jagr prefers a European style puck-possession offense (even though it’s clear he doesn’t have the same power along the boards anymore), while the Rangers are moving towards a North American style of power hockey. I love the way Jagr and Dubinsky play together, so I do have some worries about the kid’s progress should the Rangers choose not to re-sign Jagr. But, I think Dubinsky is a talented center who would be successful with any wingers.

By the way, Sam Weinman wrote a great eulogy for the Jagr era.

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#2 Penguins vs. #5 Rangers – Series Preview

Here once again is the definitive series preview, brought to you by a joint effort of the creators of this blog. The Rangers posted a 5-3 record against the Penguins this season. Can Henrik Lundqvist keep Sid the Kid and his cronies from punching the Rangers out of the playoffs? The only way to find out is to keep reading.

It’s on the long side, so click the “more” link below to continue reading.

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Redemption!

Nobody was blaming Marc Staal after the Devils overtime winner in game 3 ricocheted off his foot past Henrik Lundqvist. But you can bet Staal wasn’t too happy about it, especially after the play earlier in the game where he couldn’t clear the puck and Elias scored. But wow, the kid played awesome tonight. The game winner was sweet, but that wasn’t the only bright spot about Staal’s game. He was solid through all 3 periods. Along with his partner Rozsival, Staal was very effective breaking the puck out of the Rangers zone, and when Staal and Rozsival were on the ice, the Devils barely got a sniff at the net. Plus that game winner was sweet. Did I mention that his game winner was really sweet?

My favorite public address announcement of the night came 13:36 into the 2nd period. It was, “Devils penalty on #30, Martin Brodeur. 2 minutes for diving.” HAHAHA. FINALLY. If a referee gives you a penalty for diving, he is basically calling you a little bitch. That probably didn’t sit well with Marrrrrrrrr-teeeeeee. Brodeur is a flopper, plain and simple.

Game highlights can be found here.

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Rozsival back, Gomez questionable tonight against Devils

Scott Gomez will be on the ice for warm-ups but will make a game-time decision as to whether he can play against his former team. If Gomez plays, the three scoring lines should return to “normal”. That is:

Avery-Dubinsky-Jagr
Dawes-Gomez-Shanahan
Straka-Drury-Callahan

For the 4th line, I’d like to see Prucha and Hollweg stay in the lineup with Sjostrom joining them. Prucha showed enough feistiness and a willingness to throw a hit on Tuesday that I think placing the little guy on the 4th line is not too much of a stretch. Plus, having a 4th line that might actually score a goal would be nice for a change. This would leave Colton Orr as the odd man out, which certainly brings down the team’s toughness quotient, but in a game that has such big playoff implications, I think fighting and toughness take a back seat to scoring goals.

Speaking of playoff implications, a win tonight does not move the Rangers up the standings, but they can equal the Devils at 91 points if they win in regulation. (Devils have the tie-break with more wins)

Having Michal Rozsival back will be a big plus for the team. With a much slower Defense on display Tuesday against the Flyers, the Rangers played a conservative game in an effort to keep a Blueshirt between the Flyers speedy forwards and Mr. Lundqvist. It worked fairly well until we were exposed in the 4-on-4 extra frame. Having Rozsival in the lineup gives the Rangers the luxury of being more aggressive moving the puck up the ice.

The biggest question for Rangers tonight, (aside from whether Gomez will be in the lineup), is if the Rangers can generate some offense and put some pucks behind Marty Brodeur.

Marek Malik and Jason Strudwick will be healthy scratches.

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Rangers vs. Flyers – UPDATE

Michal Rozsival is a late scratch because of a leg injury. Paul Mara will play in his place alongside Marek Malik in what may be the slowest defense tandem in history (j/k). It will be Mara’s first game back from injury after suffering a broken bone in his face against Buffalo on Feb. 23rd.

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